After the Civil War, during the period known as Reconstruction (1865–77), the amendment was successful in encouraging African Americans to vote. Finally, on March 30, 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment became part of the Constitution. In the year of the 150th anniversary of the Fifteenth Amendment Columbia University history professor and historian Eric Foner said about the Fifteenth Amendment as well as its history during the Reconstruction era and Post-Reconstruction era: It's a remarkable accomplishment given that slavery was such a dominant institution before the Civil War. Contents. [48], The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Sections 4 and 5 in South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966). In Shelby County v. Holder (2013), however, the Supreme Court struck down the section of the VRA that had been used to identify covered jurisdictions, effectively making the preclearance requirement unenforceable. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Ratified February 3, 1870. The Enforcement Acts were passed by Congress in 1870–1871 to authorize federal prosecution of the KKK and others who violated the amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment provides a broad definition of citizenship, overruling the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which held that blacks could not be citizens of the United States. The clause grants the right to vote to African-American people. Application. "[21], One source of opposition to the proposed amendment was the women's suffrage movement, which before and during the Civil War had made common cause with the abolitionist movement. The Court declared that the Fifteenth Amendment "commands that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race or color, and it gives Congress the power to enforce that command. It was one of the Reconstruction Amendments.The amendment discusses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws.It was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War.This amendment was bitterly contested. [8][9] Three weeks later, Johnson's veto was overridden and the measure became law. The Court ruled in the related case Myers v. Anderson (1915), that the officials who enforced such a clause were liable for civil damages. [21] In April and December 1869, Congress passed Reconstruction bills mandating that Virginia, Mississippi, Texas and Georgia ratify the amendment as a precondition to regaining congressional representation; all four states did so. The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on February 3, 1870. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Text. Amendment XV of the United States Constitution was passed by Congress on February 26, 1869. [40] The Amendment is not designed to punish for the past; its purpose is to ensure a better future. The 15th Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870. [48] In 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was elected president after a highly contested election, receiving support from three Southern states in exchange for a pledge to allow white Democratic governments to rule without federal interference. After an acrimonious debate, the American Equal Rights Association, the nation's leading suffragist group, split into two rival organizations: the National Woman Suffrage Association of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who opposed the amendment, and the American Woman Suffrage Association of Lucy Stone and Henry Browne Blackwell, who supported it. The Black Codes attempted to return ex-slaves to something like their former condition by, among other things, restricting their movement, forcing them to enter into year-long labor contracts, prohibiting them from owning firearms, and by preventing them from suing or testifying in court. The amendment declares in part that ‘the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.’ Background Edit. Amendment XV Section 1. Finally, on March 30, 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment became part of the Constitution. This was the first time in American history that Congress was able to muster the votes necessary to override a presidential veto. Historian William Gillette wrote of the process, "it was hard going and the outcome was uncertain until the very end. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. [46] However, as Reconstruction neared its end and federal troops withdrew, prosecutions under the Enforcement Acts dropped significantly. [15] Northern states were generally as averse to granting voting rights to blacks as Southern states. Amendment 14 of the United States Constitution. [47][48][a], Congress further weakened the acts in 1894 by removing a provision against conspiracy. [63] In the last of the Texas primary cases, Terry v. Adams (1953),[64] the Court ruled that black plaintiffs were entitled to damages from a group that organized whites-only pre-primary elections with the assistance of Democratic party officials. Media in category "Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution" The following 17 files are in this category, out of 17 total. [51], In the 20th century, the Court began to read the Fifteenth Amendment more broadly. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868, and mainly ensured former slaves were protected by constitutional rights within the country. [26][28] The House of Representatives passed the amendment, with 143 Republicans and one Conservative Republican voting "Yea" and 39 Democrats, three  Republicans, one Independent Republican and one Conservative voting "No"; 26 Republicans, eight Democrats, and one Independent Republican did not vote. [3] Republicans hoped to offset this advantage by attracting and protecting votes of the newly enfranchised black population. [48] In Guinn v. United States (1915),[52] a unanimous Court struck down an Oklahoma grandfather clause that effectively exempted white voters from a literacy test, finding it to be discriminatory. Review: July 6, 2013. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Many African Americans were even elected to public office during the 1880s in the states that formerly had constituted the Confederate States of America. The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." President Grant said of the amendment that it "completes the greatest civil change and constitutes the most important event that has occurred since the nation came to life. The Constitution of the United States: Amendment 15 (15th Amendment). Background. The Court found in his favor on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law, while not discussing his Fifteenth Amendment claim. The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen theright to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (for example, slavery). From 1890 to 1910, southern states adopted new state constitutions and enacted laws that raised barriers to voter registration. A number of blacks were killed at the Colfax massacre of 1873 while attempting to defend their right to vote. "It was ratified on February 3, 1870, [1] as the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments. The joint resolution of the United States Congress proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, December 7, 1868. 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